The Arabist

IPS on role of clerics in Iraq

"Our country has turned from a secular into a purely religious country," Munthir Sulayman, social reform activist in Baghdad told IPS. "We were dreaming of a huge development in social affairs to become more modern and free, where individuals can play their natural role in developing the country through participation in politics, economy and all aspects of life. What has happened is the opposite, and the country has become completely under control of clerics."

Who will rid us of these turbulent priests? (No, not you General David "The Second Coming" Petraeus.)